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Showing posts with the label inspiration

Spirit Chronicles: The Road of Choices

 I was walking up a dirt road that led up hill. As I looked to my left I saw a huge tree that had been cut at the base and on that was an old timey blue rocking chair. In that chair was a dark skeleton that was on fire. It looked at me as if I was in some kind of horror movie and stared as I walked by. There were no words or communication but I could feel its spirit of disguist, fear and anger. It was suffering and the fire was never ending. I kept walking and noticed that everything on that side of the road was also dead. The vegataion was dead, the grass was brown and the trees were broken and tatteterd as if a storm or a severe fire had come through the area. On my right I saw a huge Oak tree about 10 feet wide at the base. Below that tree was a nice newer looking rocking chair. In that chair was a light being that I felt to be a good spirit of the Heavens. It was rocking and just relaxing as if life was grand. All of the trees, grass and surroundings were beautiful green

Americana-My First Car

 Scrolling Facebook this morning and I see a post about your first car. The picture in the post is actually my first car. It was called “The Bean”. Only difference was I had mag wheels on mine. Before I got it it looked like this. My friends and I made some good memories in that little car. I believe I drove it to the Prince Purple Rain concert with a few folks that are friends on here. The motor died in it near Yadkinville on the way back to App State one winter Sunday and dad got rid of it for me.I remember wanting a fancier car and my parents taught me a valuable lesson I still remember to this day. I had seen a really nice looking truck down the road for sale and as my birthday came closer I kept telling them what I wanted. My birthday arrives and my mom comes in my room early and says get up and go outside your truck is in the driveway. I jumped up and ran as fast as I could and sitting in the driveway was a truck (beautiful shiny brand new out of the package hot wheel truck). The

Impossible Actually Becomes I'm Possible

  Impossible is a word we have all heard at some point in our life. This is a very negative and non-supportive way for people to acknowledge your goals, dreams and visions. You will not, You cannot, You might not, That is crazy, What a stupid idea, What in the world are you thinking, How do you expect to do that and so many other negative ways we hear someone tell us that things are impossible. Well, I here to tell you that all things are possible. In fact, the word Impossible actually spells out I’m Possible. Yes, it spells out the words we need to know, believe and hear. You are possible, this can happen, you can do it, you have got this, what can I do to help you, sounds like you have a great plan, I know you can be successful, what a great idea, I love the way you are attacking the possible. These statements make us feel much better and motivate us to reach higher, work harder, go faster, stay focused and accomplish the possible. Along the way will it be easy trying to achieve the

Know When To Go Home

Today I am talking to myself and many others that just do not know when to stop working and go home.  As a career teacher and coach I have worked so many extra hours all these years and seem to always find a reason to stay a little longer to do things on my list.  As I got older I realized that I had to find better balance in my work and home life.  I got home late so many nights and suddenly it hit me that things could wait for tomorrow.  I began to make adjustments and started delegating responsibility to my team and coaches and it made a world of difference for me at home.  Being a driven person that wants to be successful, work hard and win at sports and life I would tend to be one of the first to arrive on campus and the last to leave.  I coached football in the fall, wrestling in the winter and softball in the spring.  Yes, I spent nine months a year actively coaching a sport, but lets be real it was a 12 month job when you add in summer workouts, camps, clinics, fund raisers and

Proud Papa Moment

26-year-old-taylor-bowers-went-from-broke-college-kid-to-six-figure-entrepreneur?fbclid=IwAR0ZJpgw5UdVw-rjMS3PAe5igsA2vcZfMKSWr1G3deGTH9j89U8ceVvN6F4 Today I am sharing the story about my 26 year old daughter.  I could not write a more motivational story than this.  She is living proof that working your tail off and never giving up on yourself will make you a success in life. Coach B

Life Lessons From Fishing With My Dad

Growing up my dad and brothers loved to go fishing. We would gather up a bunch of worms, get a few cans of corn, load up a bunch of fishing poles and go to a creek, a pond, the beach or anywhere we could wet a hook. We did it for sport and rarely ever had to keep anything we caught, we used the proper equipment to be able to catch and release. Just as many of my friends hunted with their dads, we instead choose to fish. We fished in the fall and spring mostly when the weather was good and it wasn't so hot or cold. One main life lesson I learned from my good old dad was patience. I remember going to a pond and my dad would bait his hook, cast the line in and just sit and wait. Sometimes for hours until something bit the line, took off and bent that pole. He might reel it in on occasion to check the bait and make sure it was still good since the little "bait stealers" which are small fish that just nip at the bait until it falls off would eventually leave you with an

Dead Roses- Its The Thought That Counts

This past Valentines Day I was still recovering from Covid and not being able to drive around town very much due to a lack of energy, cold weather affecting my breathing and not wanting my wife to see what I was trying to do I used an online flower service to get her some (what I thought would be very nice roses). I also ordered a card and some candy and man I was pumped. I was excited that I had gotten her a nice thoughtful gift and she would be so happy with it. Well lets just say that sometimes the best laid plans fall apart for one reason or another. I knew the delivery was arriving on 2/13 and was expecting a delivery person to knock on the door and hand her the gift. She would be excited, cry and all that mushy stuff and I would hit a homerun. Team Hubby 1, Team Wife 0. Well unfortunately the flowers arrived in a box, had no water and were almost completely dead. The candy sucked but the card was nice and had my special message on it. Lets just say the dead roses didn'

Life Skills Needed As An Adult

Playing some form of organized sports is like a right of passage for many of us.  I grew up in a large family where every boy played football.  All of my brothers, and boy cousins played football at some point in their life.  Most of my girl cousins played basketball and softball in school, but they also played football on Sunday afternoons at my Grandma's house.  These games were brutal with heavy hitting, tackling, blocking and running.  We all got cuts, bumps, bruises, stitches and a few broken bones at some point in our childhood and teenage life.  Through these injuries and tough hits, we learned things about life that later propelled us to become productive adults, parents and friends. Learning life skills is an important part of the process of growing up and as a coach and teacher one of main focus points is to teach my kids the valuable life skills that can help them lead a good life.  A life that allows them to work, live, play and do what they want to do.  A life that is

Setting Smart Goals To Win In LIfe

Today we are talking about how being a goal driven person can help you become very successful in life, work and play.  The poster above tells us that we must set goals and work hard to accomplish them.  As a coach, teacher, husband, father and mentor setting goals for the team, family and my own life have always been an integral part of the process.  I cannot imagine tackling any task without a plan, end goals and dreams.  Every season I coach the team and I sit down and we talk about everyone's individual goals, team goals and how we accomplish them.  Everyone has different goals in life based on their age, living situation, finances and career goals.   When setting goals you must start with short term attainable goals that steadily clip off time to reach the end long term goal.  I teach financial math to my 11th grade students and we cover goals at the very beginning of the class.  If they do not know where they are and where they want to go then I am teaching them to fail later

Living An Abundant Life

Today I was reading and the focus of todays message is living an abundant life. Lets look at what abundance means and the best definition I liked is to live a life that is exceedingly high, beyond measure, and to attain more than typical results. The bible tells us that abundance is something God wants us to have in our life here on earth and in heaven.  Jesus said,  “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly”  (John 10:10).  I believe that this message is stating that he wants you to fulfill your God-given purpose and walk with him as you go through life.  Many people confuse this abundance as having things and living a lifestyle with fancy cars, big houses, dream vacations and having lots of money in the bank.  Those "things" are an abundance that many people have on earth.  However, the bible tells us that prioritizing these things (1st Corinthians 1:26-29) are not Gods priority.   Our abundance is the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus in

EIGHT PRACTICES OF SUCCESSFUL LEADERS AND COACHES

Today we are continuing the series on successful coaching, leading and mentoring of people.  Being successful as a leader, mentor, father, mother, coach, teacher, pastor, business owner or whatever your title is requires a skill set that is constantly developed as you become the best you can.  As I look back at my career as a teacher and coach and as a business professional I am grateful for the people I was blessed to work with that had these qualities.  They were successful at what they did and were so consistent with the habits they had to remain on top of their game.  I have tried to be the best leader I can and at times sure I failed at one or two of these qualities somewhere in the process.  The key is knowing where you are, where you want to be and how you will get there.   You don't have to be a leader to maximize some or all of these qualities.  I have worked with front line teachers, sales people and other peers that exhibited many of these traits.  They may not have want

Four Things Great Coaches and Leaders Have In Common

Coaches hold the key to make or break a teams success. Coaches that have poor interpersonal skills, have huge egos, don't care about their student athletes and just use power to bully their way with the athletes put a sour taste in the mouths of the players. On the flip side, a great coach inspires, motivates, leads, guides, teaches and mentors his or her players.  They can inspire a love of the game and a life long relationship with the players they impact.  There are plenty of good sports coaches out there that keep the season humming along, but it’s those great sports coaches that kids (and parents) will remember and love forever. Here are four things those great sports coaches have in common that make student/athletes want to play for them. 1- They love to teach: A great coach loves to teach the sport and does so with passion.  They use the game and its learning to teach life skills, build relationships and build the skills of each individual athlete.  They inspire the players

Going Camping- Five Reasons to Spend Time In Nature This Spring/Summer/Fall

I love to go camping in the North Carolina mountains with my family.  My old roommate from college and I used to go every summer in June for a weekend of camping, trout fishing, grilling good food and chilling out with a few cold ones in hand.  Camping is not for everyone and there are different ideas of camping according to who you ask.  My version of camping is a tent, some food, some fire wood, what supplies you need and go find a nice spot on a rushing creek (helps you sleep so good at night) set up and enjoy a few days and nights in the woods getting back to nature.  I have a favorite little spot called Mortimer campground.   It is open only during the spring and fall seasons in the NC mountains on the Wilson Creek Gorge.  If you are ever in NC go see that place it is awesome and has some really good water, great pictures, swimming and fishing. My wife and I plan a trip out west this summer to go enjoy nature and see some mountain parks, rivers, animals and whatever else gets thro

Ten Things People Do Not Do Anymore Because of Technology

Today we are looking at a list of things that people used to do on a daily basis before technology changed everything and made them go away.  These are actually things people should continue to do and some may do these anyways.  I love technology but I also continue to do some of these things and still teach my students some of these items because I consider them to be needed life skills.  We all become so dependent on computers, phones, headphones, iPad and all those other gadgets that make life convenient and put the answer right at our hands.  I remember not so long ago traveling with the family and you had to actually take a map of the state out, locate the town or road, read the map and drive to that location.  Now we just say the address to our phone and it tells us how to get there and how long it will take.  1- Figuring out basic math in your head- Kids are graduating school and cannot make change, count forwards or backwards to make change without a cash register telling them

Five Simple Changes to Kick Start Weight Loss

Today I am writing a quick blog post about simple ideas and changes that will allow you to begin the process of losing a few pounds at a time and getting healthier in 2021. I myself began the process of working on my health and weight back in the middle months of 2020 just prior to getting sick with heart issues and then Covid 19 hit me hard. I had lost about 15 pounds by making some small changes and was beginning to feel the physical effects (positive) of the small weight loss and changes the wife and I had made to our diet plan, exercise routine and activity. When Covid hit me in December of 2020, the weight started flying off literally as I have since dropped about 30 pounds so far and things are starting to level off now as I am healing daily, gaining my appetite back and strength a day at a time. I plan to continue to lose weight, get lean and work on total health in 2021. I am not talking going crazy and becoming a gym rat, just small simple changes that will help me live a

Leaving 2020 and Moving into 2021- My Must Do's

Some of my readers may or may not know that 2020 was a very tough year for me and my family.  I personally have battled heart issues, covid and other sickness since September of 2020.  I had three hospital stays, a couple of real scares as far as living another day and this has took a toll on me mentally, physically and spiritually.  But it did force me to take a hard look at my past, present and future growth in all three of these areas that are required for us to function healthy in life each day.  Taking this hard look will enable me to build a brighter future in all three areas of my existence.  You may not need all three, but for me they go tit for tat and connect the dots of the life style I live.  I must have all three to be strong of mind, body and soul.  Everyone writes a bunch of new year resolutions that they intend to work on for the new year and go flying into the new year all fired up and on a mission.  Then soon, the mission becomes less important by day as things begin

Top Five Destinations to Visit- Bucket List #1

Today I am writing about my top five destinations to travel and see once I retire in a few years from now. The plan is to jump in the car and take off out West and visit the sites, see nature at its best and experience the thrill of traveling, spending time with my wife and family along the way. I have a bucket list of foreign destinations as well but those will have to wait for now. The list below is built upon my specific interest in mountains, beautiful scenery, waterfalls, nature and river systems. 1- Grand Canyon- I know it is a prime location for nature lovers and very common. But the allure of such nature God has carved out by his hands is too much to pass up on this future trip. 2- Yellowstone National Park- Scenery, wildlife, nature, and just clean fresh air is a definite stop on my first swing out west. 3- Glacier National Forest- 700 lakes, rivers, hiking, animals and nature at irs finest await my family. Great pictures to be taken and memories to be made along this pa

Battling Covid 19

I took a few days off from blogging as I have been recovering from Covid 19 over the Christmas Holidays.  I am writing this to tell my story of the battle I fought with Covid and how it has impacted me and the family this past week and a half.  Since Covid hit we have been very focused on avoiding it the best we could and took precautions to not contract it.  That all changed a week and half ago as we were exposed to someone that did not know they were a carrier and within a few days the wife and I started feeling bad and suspected that we may have contracted it just prior to the Holidays.  It started out like a common cold with runny nose, chest congestion and stomach ache.  We tried for three days to find a testing site close to the house and eventually drove down the road about forty five minutes to be rapid tested.  We were steadily getting sicker and within  a few days of the test we got the results back that we were positive for the virus.  At this point we cancelled Christmas wi

All I Want For Christmas 2020 and Beyond

My wife and I have grown kids and they are always asking us what we want for Christmas.  Many parents out there of grown children can relate to this dilemma and we all probably give the same answer over and over.  We say "I don't know", "I don't want anything", "I don't need anything", or my favorite which is "I just want to be with you on Christmas day".  I sometimes even tell them "my two front teeth" just to get them riled up.  My wife and I are blessed and we really do not have anything on a list that we need.  Heck, we all have online ordering and next day delivery for all those things we want to buy.  I wrote yesterday about A Covid Christmas which is what we are celebrating this year as we all have Covid and are separated for the Holidays.   We all have family traditions like gathering, eating, fellowshipping and sharing gifts with family and friends.  For years we have always opened one present Christmas eve as a fa

Covid Christmas 2020

This week my wife and I tested positive for the Covid 19 virus and are locked down at home for the Christmas Holidays.  We have been very careful to avoid people, mostly staying at home and using proper protective measures for months.  Our oldest daughter has it also and is stuck in Florida for the Holidays, while our youngest daughter is finishing up her covid lockdown from being positive a few weeks ago.  We have called all the family to advise that we cannot meet with them on Christmas day to eat breakfast, open presents, fellowship and most importantly celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   This however does not mean that Christmas cannot be just as special because we will get together in a week or so when everything clears up and everyone is well enough to be safe to gather.  This Christmas will be unlike any we have ever experienced with covid lockdowns, infection rates spiking and the need to being safer than ever.  People are stuck at home, in nursing facili